For a number of years, the Tricycle theatre & cinema in Kilburn (alongside other cinemas in London, Manchester and elsewhere) has hosted a Jewish film festival. Although most films are non-political, last year, films did include UK premieres of ‘Besa: the Promise‘ about mostly Muslims Albanians who risked their lives sheltering Jews during WWII, ‘From Cable Street to Brick Lane‘ about the triumph of immigrants and trade unions in London’s East End over prejudice and intolerance, and ‘Inheritance‘, the directorial debut of Palestinian actress Hiam Abess.
This year Tricycle decided that, in the circumstances of the Gaza war, it could not accept sponsorshop money from any government agency involved. As a result, it is the victim of a witch-hunt for a boycott that never was, launched by the self-styled Campaign against Antisemitism launched only this month, which compares Tricycle’s decision to “the Nazi boycott of Jewish enterprise after Hitler’s election“. Continue reading →
Most people in this country have no idea how leniently the banks have been let off the hook for all their multiple and massive misdemeanours compared with the US and the EU. This week in the US the big banks have been told that if they are to meet government demands for new terms to settle claims for mortgage sales abuses, they will have to provide billions of dollars in relief to those communities which have been hardest hit by the financial crisis.
